Any references to methods, apparatus or documents of the prior art are not to be taken as constituting any evidence or admission that they formed, or form part of the common general knowledge.
It is known to use a synthetic ground covering for outdoor areas such as playing fields and playgrounds for children. One type of ground covering that is sometimes used is synthetic grass, which is basically a carpet that has an upper layer of plastic tufts that resemble natural grass. Synthetic grass is less than ideal in some situations because it tends to become waterlogged and does not drain well. A further issue is that there are many situations where the appearance of a synthetic grass covering is inappropriate. For example, it would be desirable if the ground covering readily allowed for a selection of color schemes to be presented.
Other playground surfacing options include poured-in-place (PIP) EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer), coloured crushed car tyres and plastic or foam rubber tiles. However, PIP EPDM has poor resistance to chlorine so that it is not suited to being applied in areas where there is a cholorinated swimming pool. There are also problems such as mould, drainage, fading and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which pose a health risk to people applying the product.
Plastic or foam rubber tiles may also be used but they too have a number of disadvantages such as:                Require either welding of joints and/or gluing to the substrate        May fade over time        Difficult to patch or replace        Limited color range        No graphics        Must be fine and dry during installation        VOC's—unhealthy to applicators        
Another consideration is that where a ground covering is applied in a publicly accessible space, for example a playground, it is important that the covering should be inherently resilient to tampering and vandalism.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an outdoor ground covering that addresses one or more of the problems of the prior art or which is at least a useful commercial alternative to ground covering systems that have hitherto been available.